Major Alexander Gordon Laing (27 December 1794 – 26 September 1826) was a Scottish explorer and the first European to reach Timbuktu, arriving there via the north-to-south route in August 1826.

In that year, while with his regiment at Sierra Leone, he was sent by the governor Sir Charles MacCarthy, to the Mandingo country, with the double object of opening up commerce and endeavouring to abolish the slave trade in that region.

While in England in 1824, Laing prepared a narrative of his journeys, which was published in 1825 and entitled Travels in the Timannee, Kooranko and Soolima Countries, in Western Africa.

[3] Joseph Banks, president of the African Association, supported his project, hoping that the expedition would reveal the location of Timbuktu.

Henry, 3rd Earl Bathurst, then secretary for the colonies, instructed Captain Laing to undertake a journey, via Tripoli and Timbuktu, to further elucidate the hydrography of the Niger basin.

[3] René Caillié reached Timbuktu two years after Laing and by returning alive was able to claim the 9,000-franc prize offered by the Société de Géographie for the feat.

[5] In 1903, the French government placed a tablet bearing Laing's name and the date of his visit on the house occupied by him during his 38-day stay in Timbuktu.